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Real Madrid 2002-3... that's one that's better (on paper or not, you've probably never seen them play either)

Salgado better than Alves??? are you serious? I mean really?
Hierro & Figo being better than Iniesta and Puyol at that stages of their career is very debatable ,Hierro was considered a legend but he wasn't doing great at that time ,he was considered more of a club legend and a good player than a current great player
Puyol is still very good IMHO ,but injuries are diminishing his play anyway
Iniesta is at his prime ,Figo was 30 and coming of an awful world cup ,

Ronaldo & Messi are a tie at this point of their careers too ,both were just the greatest players of their generation,actually with their club Messi has done way better than Ronaldo in 2002 he was just coming from several injuries

Makelele over Busquets is a tough one for me,I think he has drastically improved under Mourinho and people are overrating his performance with real Madrid ,but it seems I am the only one with that opinion
but any way ,if you look it according to the expectation at beginning of season ,Busquets is actually now is way highly rated than Makelele in 2002 (remember ,he was the underrated guy back then ) ,
And since "on paper" is more about the expectation of the players ,I would take Busquets over him ,And that isn't taking anything from Makelele

And Casillas was still the young GK back then ,still wasn't a big name (still beats current VV ,but not with the big margin as their names suggest)

I might be a homer but I would take the team alencp3 has said over 2002-2003 RM , I don'tknow about all time though
I think their was a lot of gr8 teams in the past,you know late 80's-early 90's Milan ,Liverpool in early 80's ,Ajax and Bayern in the 70's etc
some of this teams might have been hyped more than any team right now

2002-3 was Luis Figo's best season with Real and he was probably the best player for Real Madrid that year. And he's a better player than Iniesta so I'll take Figo's peak over any year Iniesta has had.

Hierro was better than current Puyol, no doubt.
Ronaldo had 30 goals in 45 games. Goals were more rare than today's game back then.

Busquets, in no universe, can be considered better than Makelele. Only on toilet paper.

Casillas was the starting GK for Spain in the 2002 World Cup. He was a very hot name even back then.

Barcelona only has Dani Alves, Pique and Xavi as better players/names than Real Madrid in 2002/3. And if you remember those del Bosque Real Madrid teams, especially the 2001-2 one, those guys would find eachother with closed eyes and it didn't involve 30 passes from left to right side, just a 'change of play' ball. This didn't change with either Flavio Conceicao, Esteban Cambiasso, Santiago Solari, Savio, McManaman or Guti & Makelele in the lineup. That team was absolutely insane and I still think it's the best team since the turn of the century. And I'm saying this as a football fan who has hated that Real Madrid team during their prime.

2002-3 was Luis Figo's best season with Real and he was probably the best player for Real Madrid that year. And he's a better player than Iniesta so I'll take Figo's peak over any year Iniesta has had.

Hierro was better than current Puyol, no doubt.
Ronaldo had 30 goals in 45 games. Goals were more rare than today's game back then.

Busquets, in no universe, can be considered better than Makelele. Only on toilet paper.

Casillas was the starting GK for Spain in the 2002 World Cup. He was a very hot name even back then.

Barcelona only has Dani Alves, Pique and Xavi as better players/names than Real Madrid in 2002/3. And if you remember those del Bosque Real Madrid teams, especially the 2001-2 one, those guys would find eachother with closed eyes and it didn't involve 30 passes from left to right side, just a 'change of play' ball. This didn't change with either Flavio Conceicao, Esteban Cambiasso, Santiago Solari, Savio, McManaman or Guti & Makelele in the lineup. That team was absolutely insane and I still think it's the best team since the turn of the century. And I'm saying this as a football fan who has hated that Real Madrid team during their prime.

Milan's team in the early 90s is definitely up there.

Ok that Alves part is my bad
Now just to make it clear,are we talking about our own opinion ,or what the world wide perception was back then for 2002-2003 RM in comparison to what the world sees FCB right now with the possiblity of Neymar joining?
If we are talking about what you think ,then I am fine ,but I don't think that what alencp3 meant to say
Now if we are gonna talk about what most football fans critics think then I don't agree with what you said at all

And for the 2nd time ,what those players turned to be or the way they played
the season back then is irrelevant ,Because we are talking about expectations
I am talking about what fans though at the end Of August 2002 after Ronaldo joined them not July 2003 and definitely not what we think of them right now

Also I never doubted that del Bosque Real Madrid was a bad team or not great ,but they were not by any means has been hyped or rated as high as Pep's FCB which the current team is basically the same with a different coach,I don't think they played better game either

Real Madrid 2002-3:
- Top 2 players in a much more talented era
- 3 Top 5 players in a much more talented era
- Spain's starting GK
- Best DM in the world
- GOAT contender for AMC position
- GOAT contender for ST position
- GOAT Spanish forward

Apart from the Messi-Xavi-Iniesta trident + the potential of Neymar, there's nothing that really stands out for this Barcelona team compared to all time great teams.

A team with Ronaldo-Zidane-Figo in their prime + Roberto Carlos-Hierro-Makelele-Casillas... let's be serious. You probably don't remember the hype this Real Madrid team had.

Inter 1998-2001 was amazing on paper. Inter in the 60s was amazing on paper too.
Milan in the 90s is a given as a contender.
Juventus in the 90s and early 2000s had amazing players
Torino in the 40s had the Italian National team playing for them
Honved in the 40-50s was the great Hungarian NT feeder
Liverpool in the 70s-80s...
Ajax and Bayern in the 70s...
Real Madrid in the 50s with Di Stefano, Puskas, Kopa, Gento...

This Barcelona is arguably a top 10 team as it stands, with Neymar (if he plays closer to Ronaldo than Robinho) it moves up to a given top 5 team, but top 1 for sure? Doubt it.

If there was any Ronaldo better than the current Messi - it would be either Barca Ronaldo or early Inter days before the injury. But surely not 2002-2003 Ronaldo.
Figo better than Iniesta? Wow thats a new one to me... Zidane himself said that Iniesta is a paler version of himself. And as we know Zidane was miles better than Figo. Think again.

The only real advantage Real has is the GK position, LB, the position where zidane played ( AM or whatever he played, you compared him to Neymar though ) and maybe maybe raul over villa even though its very arguable if villa gets to his 2010 WC form.

and i didnt say 'for sure' i said 'pretty much' which means its arguable

Zidane >>>>>>>>>> Iniesta. Whatever Zidane says, there's no way Iniesta is better or even on par with Zizou.

Ronaldo has said that Messi is the best ever. Pele has said that Ronaldo is the best player after him... players' opinion doesn't really mean much to this.

There's no way Iniesta will ever be remembered as close to Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo or anyone. He'll only be remembered as a very good player of his era and as the guy who scored in the final for Spain.